₦airaland Forum

Good morning all,

For those who have taken the exams or have practised a lot of questions, is the EE Task 1 always about "faits divers" while the Task 2 always about "letter writing or essays"?

Merci Beaucoup

Congratulations to you. This post and the entire thread is really encouraging to know that it is possible to get that score we desire.

Success all the way to all those taking this January.

DanMisla:
Hi,

Lemme try to give back to this thread, which really helped. My results (finally!) from Abuja, 10 Dec:
Comp. Ecrite C1 - 240/300 (CLB ; Comp. Orale B2 - 260/360 (CLB 7); Exp. Ecrite C1 - 390/450 (CLB 9); Exp. Orale B2 - 329/450 (CLB 7)

I started learning French (at AF Lagos) years ago, so I'm not best placed to answer the popular question: how long it'd take to go from novice to B2/CLB7. For that I strongly recommend testimonies from @njbybrthnly and @BootyliciousHon. Their advice is valid for French debutants as for people, like me, who fall in and out. My experience:

EE
Pleasantly shocked at my Writing scores: I didn't feel confident before and after the exam. For Task 1, completing a "fait divers", we wrote about a guy who woke up to see bank notes strewn in his garden, and I did my best to produce the closest I could to a newspaper report. So...Who? When? Where? What? How? Etc? But I also used reported speech, as a journalist would quote an interviewee.
For eg: ""I was shocked; I almost had a heart attack!!", said Mr. Butiku to a reporter from…"
Then to add colour, like..."Mr. Butiku took photos of his garden before calling the police, because he knows they are crooks". And throw in a catchy ending.

For Task 2, after the intro, identify two or three opposing points and then use connectors (par contre, en revanche) to provide counter arguments.
Lots of practice helped me. As did preparing a quick plan is essential. I saw somewhere that you shouldn't write your entire essay on rough paper first; I totally agree! A huge part of the challenge is managing time.


EO
The formal role play was to call a clown agency about services for a children party. I got little or no prep time! I struggled with questions: we didn't do many clown parties in my time...alas!
Second task was to convince a friend to spend a weekend sleeping in a "yourte", literally the first time I saw the word! I had to look at the photos to realise it's a tent. The idea here is to find a way to keep trying to convince the examiner, "your friend". You have to be creative. And you must have a response for all his questions. If he asks about costs, for eg, you must give a figure, ideally a ridiculously cheap figure. My examiner complained about sleeping in the open with mosquitoes...I said don’t worry there would be so much fun we won’t sleep. He said what if he breaks a leg, I said emergency services respond quickly. I even referred to a mutual friend, "Paul", who had had fun during the camping some weekends ago. Going on for 10mins wasn't easy and I had to say "je comprends tes reticences" a few times. But, it was ok in the end.

What? You haven't created your profile??

Let's just exchange scores naa, you can collect it back after I get ITA and you are ready to use it.

Amen to the prayers of the scores coming down

Bellerin:
Merciii...mais I'm even yet to create a profile. Still eating pof pof . Given the large draw sizes, the scores will drop to 420 - 430 soon; I hope everyone here gets an invitation. All the best to those who will write this weekend...and to those studying too.

Congratulations @Bellerin and all other ITA clinchers!!!!

May your journey from here be smooth

Thank you @mariah203 for the suggestion. Hoever, it is not an easy call for me to go to PH for the exam. Also, considering the fact that I would love to attend the revision classes for any of the exam I register for.

mariah203:
If you are interested in writing TCF go to AF Portharcourt. Even if its just one candidate, they'll register you and you will take the exam. Its N110,000. I already posted their exam schedule somewhere on this thread.

Merci @rosepetraa pour cette explication.

rosepetraa:
The TCF Canada consists of four mandatory parts. It evaluates general French language proficiency in listening comprehension, reading comprehension, speaking and writing.

There are 39 multiple choice questions for listening comprehension; 39 multiple choice questions for the reading comprehension with only one correct answer possible; 3 speaking tasks, organized according to a progressively increasing level of difficulty; and 3 writing tasks, also with a progressively increasing level of difficulty. The levels correspond to the benchmarks specified by the European Framework for Language Learning, Teaching and Evaluation as well as the Canadian Language Benchmarks

Tanks for the explanation @Mamaroon, may your next exam be favourable to you.

Also, is anyone here considering the TCF Exam? Alliance Francaise Lagos is not taking it yet, but when I called, the lady said if they have enough people making the request they can decide to start taking it.

Please, if you are interested, let's know ourselves and plan a way forward.

My main reason is the fact that you can pick up your results within 15 days as against TEF which is 2 months

Mamaroon:
Thanks

EE B1 CLB5 1 point
EO B2 CLB7 3 points
CO B2 CLB6 1 points
CE C1 CLB8 3 points

Points are from the exact numerical score on this table butility generally B1 is CLB 4 or 5...B2 is CLB 6 or 7...C1 is CLB 8 or 9

Well done, great score though.

I pray you get your 42 points in the next exams.

I am curious though, why is the score just 8? I thought the 2 B2 and the C1 will add up to 9, while the B1 will be 1 point?

Bonne chance pour ton prochain examen!

Mamaroon:
My results:

Comprehension orale - B2
Comprehension ecrite - C1
Expression orale - B2
Expression ecrite - B1

That's 8 points but I need 42.....

This my writing ehn!!! I think I'm going to kuku go to AF for lessons this time....they must be telling them something there.....my score is one of the lowest on the sheet for Expression Ecrite

Well done, great score though.

I pray you get your 42 points in the next exams.

I am curious though, why is the score just 8? I thought the 2 B2 and the C1 will add up to 9, while the B1 will be 1 point?

Bonne chance pour ton prochain examen!

DanMisla:
Du courage!
Next time will be better...

My major frustration with the exam is just how long it takes for the results! Since Nov 24...almost two months!
SMH.

Wow!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to you.

And to think that you started from scratch to achieve this type of results in 6 months is truly amazing. Please share success preparation tips if you don't mind.

Thank you

BootyliciousHon:
Have called o. My result is out o!
Ccomprehension orale-B1
Comprehension ecrit-B2
Expression orale - B1
Expression ecrit - C1
I could have sworn my lowest would be writing and my highest would be in reading!
Good but not good enough.

One question: Does CIC accept combined results for TEF? ( am hoping so as not to pay 160k)

March exam...here I come.

Congratulations @etrange!!!!!!

I am happy for you

I am curious though as to how they calculated your score to arrive at 9 points.

I didn't see your response in my mail.

Enfin, ne quitter pas ici, desole

etrange:
So guys, I finally got my ITA.

Thanks to everyone here, you all motivate me.

May we read more ITA success stories here!

Remember to share all your TEF questions here.

On va se voir au Canada.

Hi @etrange,

I pm'ed you

etrange:
OK. PM.

I am in Lagos State.

Hoping to write the April Module, and hopefully get the required level once and for all

etrange:
The accents would likely fetch you a ban. Lol

You're in which state?

Good morning everyone, and bonne et heureuse annee (i could not get the accent on my laptop)

Please, where and how can one get past questions for TEF? I know there a lot of preparatory materials out there, but is it possible to lay hands on actual past questions like we have for IELTS?

Merci beaucoup!

Hearty congratulations to you. May your PR journey be short.

njbybrthnly:
Enfin, the loooooooong awaited ITA has arrived! I'm overjoyed.

Please those that wrote TEF in October in Lagos...una neva see result? We need more good news on this thread o

Thanks @Bellerin, @njbybrthnly, @ayboye

Good morning all,

For those who have used the "prepmyfuture" app, please I need to confirm somethings

1. It is not an "app" right? I only saw it on the web.

2. How long is the subscription in terms of months? I couldn't find it on the site.

Thank you very much as you respond

Thank you very much @Bellerin and @njbyrthnly

I will take your advice like oxygen going forward.

Oh, and I shall be calling on you and everyone else as the journey progresses,.

Merci Beaucoup!!!

Bellerin:
Before @njbybrthnly arrives to give you timelines, permit me to say this:

First of all, you're doing well despite your perceived lack of progress and taking a private teacher helps too. That feeling of not making progress is normal in language learning but you have to persist.

Let me continue by saying, the revision classes at AF will prepare you for TEF specifics as against a full blown language course. So there's a chance you'll need more than that (depending on your current French level).

Now for Listening and Speaking, you need to listen to a lot of French material to develop listening capabilities. Try resources with sub titles so you don't get frustrated. Improve your vocabulary quickly - this makes you a lot better.

Speaking (For TEF) is easier to hack: Give yourself specific daily objectives. For example ask yourself - Can I:
Give my opinion in French.
Describe something in French.
Call a store to ask for the price of an item in French.
Remind a friend of something he said in French...etc

Record yourself saying it. Give yourself daily tasks. Your speaking will tremendously improve in a short time.

The TEF is tricky because it requires CLB 7 in ALL areas to get 30 extra points which makes each of the 4 areas equally important. If you do devote 4 hours daily till February, you stand a decent chance at the minimum for Speaking, Writing, and Reading.....You would need to deep-fry yourself in French Audio Oil however for Listening.

Hearty congratulations to you and @Bellerin.

Just a quick question, can you share your timeline, from the start of your current preparation to the actual exams?

I got a private teacher since may and I seem to be still far with regards to speaking and listening.

Do you think it is possible to pass if I take the AF revision module for 5 Saturdays prior to the February exams?

I am planning to study french from various sources between now and February for at least 3-4 hours daily

njbybrthnly:
I'm still in shock o...had to tell them to send me the scores through email to be sure .
The verse for today on my Bible app sha sums up how I feel right now - "Now, our God, we give you thanks, and we praise your glorious name." - 1 Chronicles 29:13 GNB. I may have put in a lot of work yeah, but I know it's only by His grace that I got these perfect scores.

For those who don't know any french, I recommend you start by reading Schaum's outline of French grammar (my french bible). If you ask me, they explain all the rules explicitly (French has many rules sha...chai). Other books I found really useful are the Competences series - for expression and comprehension orale - they come with mp3s so you can listen to french speakers in many different situations, and french vocabulary books. If you can, you can also read french articles online on sites like Le Monde, le Parisien, Figaro etc - this will help with both your reading and writing.

I posted the link to download said books previously. Please check my posts. I printed most of the books sha...reading on a PC gives me headaches so I feel this helped a lot

Also, try to listen to french speakers everyday - listening to le journal en francais facile on RFI was a morning ritual for me. You could also subscribe to some french YouTube channels - Français avec pierre is my personal favourite but there are many other good ones (Propulse Training and Enseignement de FLE are good for TEF practice questions). It doesn't really matter if you don't understand a word they are saying at first, but with time you'll realize that even though you may not understand the words individually, you get the general meaning of what they are saying.

In addition, the prepmyfuture app is really important (thanks @mariah203 for recommending it), especially for the writing section. You'll discover that for part 2 (the letter writing part), the introduction and conclusion have a standard format (that may even be up to 80 words!). Once you have that, for the body of the letter, you just need to make sure you use logical connectors and your grammar is good

Going into the exam, I was most wary of the speaking part but it turned out to be the easiest - I don't think they pay attention to your grammar as long as you can communicate your point effectively. I posted some sample questions for the section A earlier sha - again please check my previous posts (Sorry no energy to look for it) and @Bellerin posted some useful tips for the second part.

An important point to note is that examination is not a true test of knowledge (my french still needs loads of work) but once you learn what is expected of you in the exam and practice, practice, practice...success is sure.

Just keep at it...finally we will all come here to give praises

Yes, I couldn't get it. So I bought Objectif Express instead

etrange:
Ok. Meanwhile, you were once looking for the textbook Tendence. You later got It?

Thanks.

It is Lagos centre

etrange:
It depends on the centre.

I think Alliance Francaise Nigeria does theirs every month.

Good afternoon everyone,

I must commend this initiative as I am also taking French to be able to boost my score.

I would like to ask if TEF is taken every month? As I have seen people talking about September, October and December exams.

I started private classes in May from scratch and I am using Objectif Express textbooks and I would like to take the exams in January 2019

Thank you once again, @justwise, @etrange as well as all contributing.

Good afternoon all,

Its been a long time as I have been looking everywhere for extras to increase my score.

Permit me to congratulate everyone who has Landed, received COPR, PPR, ITA, IETLS result, ECA etc. We pray that our turn shall also come soon.

Please does anyone know where I can get any of these books, Tendance, Edito or Latitude. I would really be grateful.

Alliance Francaise Lagos says they don't sell to non-students.

Thank you all

HI @TEECANN,

There might just a very small error that causes it. For me it was when they reviewed POF and I updated mine. I made an error of just $1 and it rendered my profile ineligible. I had to create another one.

The good thing is that you can create the new profile from the existing one

TEECANN:
Hello my e-fam,

Top of the day to everyone.

please help me with this issue:

1. I logged in to my Express Entry Profile yesterday to update my language and spouse's language but to my surprise, after submitting the profile updates, I receive a message that "I DO NOT MEET THE CRITERIA" for the express entry.

2. I gave it 24 hours and re-logged in today, however, I still can not see my CRS score and I cannot edit or update the different categories of the EE profile.

3. What can I do to remedy this problem- ineligible profile- I cant see my CRS score and the profile reflects that I do not meet Federal Skilled Workers critera.

NB: I have checked everything and all seem ok.

Help a bro out please!

It will all end in praise IJN!

Hi @Cersei,

1. You can try to reschedule the speaking test for Thurs or Friday

2. You can also opt for rescheduling the entire Test for May 12 and pay 25% of N75,000 as Transfer fees. It will be cheaper than registering for a new test, as well as give you time to prepare more

Cersei:
Hello guys,
I have to write Ielts for 21st April and i was assigned the speaking test date Monday 16th by BC. Problem is I am unavailable that day as I am out of the country to be back in Lagos, Nigeria on Weds 18th. I thought the tests is taken on the same day

What should I do? Would I go ahead to write the LRW on 21st?

Or just forfeit the test all together. MOD IDP has a test date for 12th May.

Walegy:
I want to go and help my wife collect her result. She doesnt have the time, will they give me her result if I go with the photocopy of the front page of her passport at British Council?

Just go with the Original Passport, and make sure you know her exam number

Remember IELTS is ONLY one factor in the process. Age is not on my side , and I am the younger spouse

Osaze007:
How come your score should be very high

My IELTS Result:
L 8.5
R 7.5
S 8.0
W 7.0

I am grateful, and should be happy, but the loss of losing 6 points at a time like this is very painful. We are now at 424, but with the complete CLB we should have been on 430

Congratulations! I wrote December 2 with you, and was really sad at the outcome, but your enthusiasm was infectious. I had to re-register for March 3.

It's my prayer it will be my last as well

Well done!!!!

mcstan18:
Dear Brethren,

...for the Egyptians [BC and IELTS] whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
The day has come for us to be set free from these Egyptians. They have somehow given me some sort of mixed feelings though. Nevertheless, I am extremely grateful to God that my morale didn't wane down to a nadir.

L - 8
R - 9
W - 7
S - 8.5

I'm considering a remark in the W, I need that 3 points badly. What do you, my e-family think?
On a lighter note, someone here was touched to give me a hug the last time while I was seemingly downcast. Now is the perfect time, with all the RED theme everywhere. Shall we pick a rendezvous already?